Party in the Park to support homeless charity

A Stonehaven family music festival is set to help a local foodbank by requesting attendees donate a tin of food as part of their entrance fee.

Profits from the day organised by music shop Ma Simpson’s, will also go to the charity.

Party in the Park will take place on Sunday, July 26, at the town’s Mineralwell Park.

Profits from the all-day event, which will consist of live music, various food stalls and children’s entertainment, will be donated to Aberdeen Cyrenians. Funds raised from the festival’s bar will also be handed over to the leading homeless charity.

Alongside this, the Party in the Park organisers have finalised an innovative pricing plan that will see a requirement for attendees to donate a packet or tin of food to The Trussell Trust’s Aberdeenshire South foodbank as part of their entrance fee to the festival.

Organisers selected Aberdeen Cyrenians as the event’s nominated cause after learning about the charity’s urgent funding appeal to support the continuation of its drop-in service.

The charity made a call for help in April after a lack of funding threatened to close the valuable resource which helps more than 200 vulnerable people every week.

Since the plea was made, it has been inundated with generous donations which have enabled the service to continue for the foreseeable future. Despite this, more support is still required to ensure the drop-in remains integral to the charity’s service provision.

A number of tickets for the festival have already been snapped up by locals, with every performer, including local bands TOTICO, Hoodoo Zephyr and singer songwriter Craig John Davidson, agreeing to play for free in support of the good causes.

Also gracing the stage over the course of the day will be Sam Geddes and Lewis Fraser, the Callum Cruickshank band, Leighann Esslemont and band, Emerald Sundays, Jamie Rodden, Nigel Don MSP and children’s favourite Sharky Sharky.

Festival organiser Chris Stirk said: “When we heard about the possible closure of Aberdeen Cyrenians’ drop-in service, the team and I had a discussion about how we may be able to help. We spoke to Scott Baxter at Aberdeen Cyrenians and the decision was made to select the charity as the chosen beneficiary of this summer’s event.

“As well as the financial element of the support, we’re also asking attendees to donate either a tin or packet of food as part of their ticket price which we will pass on to The Trussell Trust for its Aberdeenshire South foodbank.

“It’s a shame that food banks have such an important role to play in today’s society but we’ve decided to do what we can for what is a valuable, local resource here in Stonehaven.

“The response from those who have already purchased a ticket has been fantastic and I can’t thank enough those who have donated already.”

Rachel Sanders, fundraising officer at Aberdeen Cyrenians, said: “We are thrilled to be selected as this year’s chosen charity for Stonehaven’s Party in the Park; a support which comes at a crucial time for us as we see an ever increasing demand for our services.

“It’s incredibly heart-warming to hear that every performer is playing for free as part of the fundraising element of the festival.